Regional Delivery Model

Jan Star

April 08
 Background
• Reductionist/ mechanistic
science/materialism
• Sum = whole of parts and presumed
predicatability

April 08
 Post -normal science
• Quantum physics/Chaos theory
• Science - world fundamentally indeterminate and unpredictable
• Possibility of spontaneous change and spontaneous organisation
• Complex systems - whole greater than the parts

• Economics moves from mechanistic, primary industry, mining,

heavy engineering to
• Information based systems

April 08
 Wicked Problems

NRM -Society in interaction

with Environment

April 08
 Ecologically Sustainable
Development
• Integration of long and short term ec/soc/env and
equity considerations in decisions
• Use Precautionary Principle
• Recognise global impacts
• Need for strong diversified economy - capacity
• Cost effective and flexible policy instruments
• Broad community involvement in decisions and
actions
April 08
 New Governance model
• Theory -Consensual governance
-Blurring of public /private sectors
-Command and Control to
Direction and Support
• Increased education and volunteerism
• Complexity of problem demands multiple
input, wide knowledge

April 08
 Adaptive Management
• Recognises complexity, uncertainty, and risk in
managing socio/ecological systems
• Recognises experimentation needed
• Shared roots in natural and social science
• Need for participation
• Challenges concept of institutional credibility because
acknowledges uncertainty
• Inertia of management to change has to be overcome
• Facilitation rather than service provision.

April 08
 Regional delivery - why?
• Socio-ecological systems are complex adaptive
systems -science and iterative learning
• More strategic approach - landscape scale
• Integration across disciplines/agencies
• Community -based environmental management
helps achieve integration
• Science used with local knowledge and local
observation of change

April 08
 Regional delivery- what is a
region
• Matching Management Scale to Resource Scale
• Who bears consequences of change
• Who best observes change in resource condition
• Who can judge if benefits outweigh cost
• Fit for purpose
• Might it change with time?

April 08
 Operational Principles

April 08
 Subsidiarity
• Decisions affecting people’s lives should be made at the
lowest capable social organisation level
• Higher authority has to prove any need to centralise
• Also has responsibility to strengthen lower level’s capacity
• Local level groups should retain autonomy
• Importance of system connectivity

April 08
 Nesting
• Small groups which can combine up
• Development of trust - face to face, frequent
connection, management of individuals, own rules
• Access to local knowledge
• Feedback on performance
• Lower enforcement costs - local acceptance
• Resilience of region - multiple units in action

April 08
 Partnerships
• Making best use of skills, capacities and
incentives - at all levels
• Strength of regions - trust and connectivity
• Is there advantage in collaboration
• Helps achieve integration

April 08
 Independence
• Financial independence helps maintain
neutrality in decision making

• Importance of Federal funds

April 08
 Accountability
• Report on finances - to funders
• Report on NR outcomes
• Ultimately reporting to public so they can
judge performance of a group
• Good corporate governance

April 08
 Transparency
• Good science, good information for good
decision making
• Importance of information dissemination
• Government responsibility to ensure
• Enables public participation (sustainability)

April 08
 Auditing
• Director-Generals responsible for Departments
delivering on objectives
• Auditor-General did look at Regional Groups but not
Departments
• Federal Government also checked NAP/NHT
• Gap in assessing performance of government
agencies

April 08
 Monitoring
• Necessary for adaptive management
• RCTs, MATs - SMARTening still
• Probably biggest issue for Groups and
Agencies
• related to our understanding of systems
• Role of indicators - as interim step

April 08
 Recommendations
• State needs NRM Strategy - roles, responsibilities
at different levels, vision for NRM, aims and objectives.
• NRM legislation - status of NRM as core Government
business. Consistent response in reports/reviews
• State NRM Ministerial Committee - broader
• NRMC should establish protocols for partnerships
• NRM Strategy for agencies - how work with Groups
• Review standards and targets - align SoE, National Land
and Water Audit
April 08
 Checklist
Scale -matched? Transference of agency problem to community - evolving

Subsidiarity Learning - eg Water Quality

Nesting Federated structure - learnings and help across groups.

Larger issues upwards.
Partnerships Variable -v. good at sub-regional level

Independence Set own priorities? Ramsar

Accountability Very much so

Transparency Knowledge - brokering problem, web-based information

Auditing Program logic,Targets, State’s lack of transparency

Monitoring Need framework - more to do

April 08
Adaptive
 Challenges
• Lack of involvement by DPI
• Monitoring - indicators
• Scale
• Agency regional boundaries not aligned
• Caring for Country

April 08